Skyship to launch in May

ORLANDO, Fla. — Skyship Services Inc. , owner of the Type Certificates for the largest certified non-rigid airships in the world, recently signed a contract that will launch the first of a new era of Skyships.

The 200-foot flying machine is being assembled at a hangar facility near Elizabeth City, N.C., that was originally used as a US Navy airship base. The Skyship will be ready to commence operations in May and will then begin a tour that will bring it to Florida before it flies from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Julian Benscher, president of Skyship Services Inc. stated that “…most people think of airships as representative of a bygone era but in fact they provide the world’s most stable flying aerial platform with unparalleled endurance capabilities.”

Skyships are ideal for aerial photography and survey work and can do the job of 12 helicopters and multiple drones at a fraction of the cost and in a far more environmentally friendly fashion, he noted.

This Skyship will initially be used for a series of scientific experiments measuring our impact on the environment and as an equipment test bed. The airship is capable of loitering for up to two days and can be configured to carry in excess of a ton of equipment. As the effects of the sequester kick in, there will be an increasing need for cost effective, survey, surveillance and border patrol solutions and the Skyship has been resurrected to meet these needs, company officials noted.

The latest version of the Skyship was originally developed by a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation and a total in excess of $200 million has been spent on design, development and certification.